NEVADA -- So last month I received my AT&T long distance bill. We make about three long distance calls per month, always to DH's mom in Arizona. Initially, the bills would come every three months and cost about $21.00. Then I noted that they were coming every month, and cost about $25.00. Then last month my bill was $68.00. And I flipped. We still make only a few long distance calls per month, still only to his mom. Whence the MASSIVE increase? So on about May 1, 2007, I called AT&T and requested to cancel my long distance service.

After wading through the insipid "menu" I finally arrived in India where the "customer service" is located, and then spending 45 minutes speaking to someone who's English skills are less than stellar, I finally got her to agree to close my account on BOTH of my phone lines.

Today, I got a bill from... SURPRISE!!!... AT&T for service from May 11 through June 10 for the "AT&T Value Plan." And again I called India and spoke with "**." HE (**) initially told me he could not bring up my account. I asked for a supervisor, was put on hold for ten minutes, and then was hung up on. I called... India... again. This time I spoke with "**." "**" sounded an awful lot like "**" but he asked me for my phone number. I gave it, and he repeated it back to me incorrectly. I gave it again. He repeated it back to me again... incorrectly (but interestingly, did quote the correct name on the account.)

Now, remember, back on May 1 (or thereabouts) I canceled long distance on BOTH of my lines. "**" proceeded to tell me that the bill I received was for my second line, for which I still had service. "**" assures me he has canceled ALL my accounts and has credited me for the bogus "Value Plan." I'm not holding my breath.

Having now spent more than an hour of my time... in India... to cancel my USA based telephone service... again... I am livid. If AT&T has pulled this scam on me, how many millions of others are being subjected to the same scam? I have filed an FCC complaint, but: Is there a class action lawyer in the house?

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We are Being Ignored by AT&T Who Slammed My International Calls Carrier

- 01/27/2007

VISTA, CALIFORNIA -- I am surprised by the number of threat letters AT&T send me without finding the time to investigate and answer my enormous correspondences, in which I repeatedly disputed the international call charges on my long distance bill!

The reason I dispute the bill was that AT&T has repeatedly and without my approval slammed my international carrier, Net One. The service with Net One, which I chose to be my sole International carrier, was established on July 3rd, 2006. My Net One Customer number was **. I was glad to use Net One as my International calls carrier because it was known that AT&T was the most expensive carrier when it comes to international calls .

On or about Aug. 30th, 2006 I contacted AT&T in an attempt to save money asking for a plan to reduce my long distance calls from 500 mins to 300 mins., which I assumed meant calls to other states within the USA, since I had previously established the international service with other carriers. It was never mentioned to me nor was I informed that AT&Ts LONG DISTANCE SERVICES meant and included INTERNATIONAL CALLS TO SOVEREIGN COUNTRIES, because as mentioned before I knew that AT&T apply the highest rates when it comes to international calls.

On or about Sept. 8th, 2006 I was advised by representatives of Net One that AT&T slammed their service to me. I re-established the service with Net One and my re-activation code was **. On Sept. 12 at or about 8:41 am I called AT&T and complained that I didnt authorize them to block Net One as my international carrier.

On Nov. 10 and after reviewing my AT&T September bill (AT&T has the tendency to send its bills later then the regular billing system of all other businesses, which usually send their bills by the end of the month), that was when I first realized that AT&T blocked Net One and set itself as the sole international and long distance carrier. I dont recall authorizing this. Applying common sense and logic, why would I want to replace Net One, which charges me 18.9 cents/minute with AT&T, which charges $4.20/minute!!!

I have been contacting AT&T ever since Nov. 10th, 2006 and received no answer to justify their actions nor to my request to resolve this matter by re-establishing my service with Net One back value and have them charge me for all the international calls or have AT&T apply the Net One rate to my international calls, since I never requested nor authorized them to terminate or slam the service with Net One. Instead I received a bill that I owe AT&T $1,616.35.

Unfortunately and up to this day, AT&T failed to answer in writing or any other form of communication except for sending me avalanche of threats. AT&T chose to sent threats and ultimatum rather than a professional, justified response.

Please notice that AT&Ts "CARRIER INFORMATION" section of the bill is vague, ambiguous and doesnt mention anything that indicates to any customer, acting in good faith, that it means international calls, when it comes to defining what they mean by Long Distance service. I do strongly believe that AT&T should have mentioned in their "CARRIER INFORMATION" section and in CAPITAL LETTERS THAT LONG DISTANCE CALLS MEANS AND INCLUDES INTERNATIONAL CALLS TO OTHER COUNTRIES, OTHER THAN THE USA.

Finally, To my dismay I received the attached letter for service I never requested. The funny thing is that it doesnt mention what kind of service it is. Please take the necessary action to investigate this matter together with the above mentioned dispute.

If I dont receive any answer within the coming 15 days, you leave me no choice but to consider all AT&T charges for international calls made during the period from Sept 1, 2006 to Nov. 11, 2006 as baseless and unjustified. I received no reply from AT&T but received lots of threats. I did contact FCC but again my complaints were totally ignored. Is there a way you guys can help us? Please let us know if any of the posted complaints was settled.

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AT&T is the most crooked company, and exemplifies corporate misconduct

By cyruscyrus - 07/22/2008

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA -- We signed up for our local and long distance phone services through AT&T. At first, the rep on the phone was very nice and helpful - almost to a point where it was exaggeration. We took it for what it was worth and appreciated the service. So initially, we were happy and pleased with the overall experience. But doesn't every nightmare start that way?

Well, after they locked us into a contract the troubles began. Every single month, and I mean every single month, we receive our phone bill and it is generally $300 to $500 over what we signed the contract for. And let me tell you: our business is predictable in nature and there are no fluctuations in usage. So we know exactly how many calls we make and expect a certain dollar range for our bill. AT&T is probably the most crooked and horrible company out there. As they have partially monopolized and have major profits, they simply do not care to do the right thing.

So anyhow, we call in every month and supposedly speak to a "manager" who "understands the problem" and "would be upset too." Somehow, this "manager" every month for the last 12 months adjusts our bill and says there is a "glitch" in their system and that is why it does this. I usually ask the same question I have asked for 12 months now: WOW, with technology where it is today, AT&T can't fix this "glitch"??? Sadly, the response is usually a chuckle.

So after the adjustment occurs, the "manager" usually asks if we want her/his email address. Initially, we actually asked for it. The next month, when we would receive our outlandish bill, we would try emailing that address and nothing. No response. So after about the 3rd month, we knew it was bogus and just a way to try to pacify us when getting off the phone.

In short, I would never ever recommend AT&T. They are horrible, and should be sued. I was actually considering paying the amount they bill us, and having our attorney go after them after months of raking up excessive fees. Do not use AT&T. IF you have other options, explore them. AT&T is nothing short of garbage and corporate scum. Best wishes.

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Long Distance Traps

By Mike - 07/14/2008

REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA -- I have been an AT&T customer for years. I happened to make a call to Canada from my landline. When I got the bill they had charged me $1.35 per minute. The same call on their cell phone would have been 19 cents per minute. My new carrier charges 5 cents per minute. Their response was to say that I hadn't signed up with some special Canadian feature that I didn't know about. This is a rip off. The rate they charged is not just high, but over 25 times as much as I pay now. Also, they were completely unsympathetic and not customer-friendly.

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Billing Practices

By Jess - 09/06/2007

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA -- I find it amazing that a company the size of AT&T has to process payments manually in order for them to be correct.
Every time a change is made to an account, i.e., name change (due to their misspelling), plan change, etc., AT&T updates a 4 digit code located at the end of the phone number. We were never notified that this code was changing. We submitted our payments through bill-pay using our phone number as the account number and the payments were never applied.

AT&T disconnected our lines even though they had our money. I received a bill to reconnect the lines the same day I received a refund check from them. I received a bill from them today and called them about it and when I verified the 4 digit code on the bill behind my number it was wrong. Their advice was to always mail them a check with the payment stub included.

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Given A Monthly Rate To Sign Up

By FAKE QUOTE - 08/24/2007

BEECHISLAND, VERMONT -- Talk to AT&T representative approx. 7/18/07 About services. Was given unlimited long distance/local/DSL internet for $67.31. Services will be connected 7/26/07. I was under the impression this was done until a bill come in for $106.06. I called 8/21/07 about this matter, was told there was nothing she could do however she gave me another rate $76.86. At this point I was so upset, I just settled for this. The next day I called back about a question on reward points and decided to check on my account. I am back to the old story that rate was not recorded. At this point my opinion of AT&T/Bellsouth is not good.

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AT&T new (tele) marketing scheme FRAUD

By C.F. - 06/09/2004

CALIFORNIA -- I never used AT&T services, none. Last month on my SBC (PacBell) bill I found a charge of $8.40 in AT&T behalf as a monthly fee and a billing fee and some taxes, no calls specified. I called the 1 800 number for customer service for clarification. Asking about the charge justifications I was bombarded with inquiries about my phone lines, my call habits, and all sorts of personal information that had nothing to do with the issue. I insisted to get my answers and all I hear is offers to switch my long distance to them and other offers without any result to my issue. I had to call again for 3 times when I start to become impatient. I was transferred to "Billing" where I was treated even worse.

When I asked for supervisor I was told "I get no supervisor". After half of an hour of negotiations I got a statement that the charge will be "refunded" without any reasonable explanation. What I see here is the new AT&T (tele) marketing scheme: "If the law prohibits us to call the consumer we will make the consumer to call us..."

AT&T issues unfunded abusive charges to (non-customer) consumers; 2. The consumer calls to complain about the charge and he gets the marketing (abuse) crap. If the consumer is strong enough he may get the refund. If not AT&T gets the money; 3. The consumer does not notice the charge in the phone bill does not complain and pays. AT&T gets the money.

Think millions of these cases! This is an issue I will take it to FCC. HEY PICK POCKETS, WATCH OUT FOR AT&T COMPETITION.

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Billing

- 05/30/2002

I have AT&T for my long distance only. I rarely make long distance calls so my monthly is usually under $3.00. AT&T refuses to bill me every 3 months or longer so that the total amount comes to at least $10. I refuse to write a check for $3 and usually wait for the amount due to reach $10-15 before sending in a payment. I have called and advised them of this as well as asked that I be billed every 3 months but they refuse. Today I received a disconnect notice for a total amount due of $11.23 for 3 months. Why can't they bill me when the total reaches a certain amount rather than waste paper and checks that are expensive!

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Phone bill

By orpha - 03/26/2007

BARTLESSVILLE, OKLAHOMA -- Beware of your phone bill, strange things show up nearly every month that don't belong there. If you ask your Bank to pay electronically they can say they never received it. In the event you don't double pay they will turn your phone off and damage your credit. Even though you had made the payment. Collection agencies start calling you. All other phone bills had been paid and only the one from the Bank was in question. BEWARE.

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slamming by AT&T

By NO att fan - 11/11/2004

I was enrolled in a long distance service provided by AT&T, where I was billed for long distance service, paying only for time spent calling long distance. However, when I received my last bill, charging me $24.00 a month, just for access to (NOT TIME USED) long distance I immediately cancelled this service and I am advising everyone else to do the same. As it is cheaper and more convenient to use a cell phone. I always kept a credit on my account. This is cause for a class action lawsuit. IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN A CLASS ACTION. WILL POST INFO LATER.